China to test facial recognition on world's longest sea bridge

RESTRICTIONS: Broadcast: NO USE JAPAN, NO USE TAIWAN Digital: NO USE JAPAN, NO USE TAIWAN Facial recognition and fingerprint technology have been deployed on recently opened the Hong Kong-Zhuhai-Macau bridge.

Some drivers on the bridge will undergo facial recognition, fingerprint analysis and temperature-taking thermal scans as Beijing tries to quicken border crossings.

This will only be used at one immigration lane initially.

Intellifusion, the company behind it, says it is 99.5 percent accurate.

The bridge is the longest of its kind in the world, measuring 39 kilometers.

It includes the bridge itself, an underwater tunnel and two artificial islands.

According to the South China Morning Post, the technology will match the driver and car with pre-registered immigration data.

Once cleared, the driver can move on.

Citing Chinese media, Reuters reports facial recognition technology will also be used to warn yawning drivers for safety.

If they are found yawning three times an alarm will go off.

The South China Morning Post reports that cross-border bus and truck drivers will soon be subject to the checks as their information is already held by Chinese authorities.